○ Radio button – only one option can be chosen ☐ Tick box – multiple options can be chosen ____ Text or numeric response – direct input Welcome page
Welcome to the AEU Tasmania School Staff Workload Survey 2017.
This survey is for Union members currently working in government schools in Tasmania. It includes Education Support Staff, Teaching Staff and Principal Class Staff.
The purpose of the survey is to provide comprehensive, reliable data about the level and nature of the work (regulated and unregulated) of teachers, principals and education support staff to inform enterprise bargaining negotiations.
No individual or school will be identified in any reporting.
The survey should take 15-20 minutes to complete. If you are unable to complete it in one session, you can save it by clicking on the 'Resume later' button, which will appear at the bottom left of each page. To complete the survey, return to this page and click on the 'Load unfinished survey' button in the bottom left corner. Please make a note of the name and password you use, as we will be unable to assist if you misplace it.
To move backwards and forwards please use the buttons provided at the bottom of the survey. Please do not use the browser back and forward buttons as this will cause the survey to drop out.
The survey is NOT suitable for small screens such as on phones. About you and your current employment
The following questions are shown to all participants:
1 Please indicate your age: _____
2 What is your gender? ○ Male
○ Female
○ I identify as ________
3 For how many years have you been working for the Tasmanian Department of Education in total
(counting this year as one)?
4 Please indicate your current employment classification: ○ Support staff
○ Teacher (including Advanced Skills Teacher) ○ Principal or Assistant Principal
○ Education Professionals (e.g. School Psychologist, Social Worker, Speech & Language Therapist) 4a The following question is shown to participants who selected ‘Support Staff’. Counting
this year as one, for how many years have you been in the role of support staff? ______years 4b The following question is shown to participants who selected ‘Teacher’. Counting this
year as one, for how many years have you been in the role of teacher? ______years 4c The following question is shown to participants who selected ‘Principal or Assistant
Principal’. Counting this year as one, for how many years have you been in the role of
principal or assistant principal? ______years
4d The following question is shown to participants who selected ‘Education Professional’.
Counting this year as one, for how many years have you been in the role of education
professional? ______years
The following question is shown to all participants.
5 Are you working at more than one school this term? ○ Yes
○ No
The following question is shown to participants working at more than one school this term.
6a Thinking about the school in which you work the most hours, in which kind of school do you work? ○ Primary (K-6) ○ Secondary (7-10) ○ Secondary (7-12) ○ District (K-10) ○ District (K-12) ○ Secondary College (11-12) ○ Support / special setting
The following question is shown to participants working in only one school this term.
6b In which kind of school do you work? ○ Primary (K-6) ○ Secondary (7-10) ○ Secondary (7-12) ○ District (K-10) ○ District (K-12) ○ Secondary College (11-12) ○ Support / special setting
The following questions are shown to all participants.
7 How many students are enrolled in this school? ○ Up to 150 students
○ 151 to 400 students ○ 401 to 750 students ○ More than 750 students
8 How long have your worked at this school (counting this year as one)? ____years
The following question is shown to all participants except for Principals or Assistant Principals.
9 What is your current employment arrangement? ○ Permanent
○ Fixed Term/Contract
○ Permanent and Fixed Term Contracts ○ Flexible Teaching Pool
○ Relief
The following questions are shown to all participants:
10 At what time fraction are you currently employed? (Please round to the nearest fraction) ○ 1.0 full-time ○ 0.5
○ 0.9 ○ 0.4
○ 0.8 ○ 0.3
○ 0.7 ○ 0.2
○ 0.6 ○ 0.1
The following questions are shown to participants currently working part-time:
11 You are currently working part-time. Do you wish to change your time-fraction? ○ Yes, decrease it
○ No, keep it the same ○ Yes, increase it
The following questions are shown to participants who responded ‘Yes, decrease it’.
I would prefer to decrease my current time-fraction because: Does not apply
1 2 3
Strongly applies 4 12a I can better meet the needs of my family ○ ○ ○ ○ 13a I don’t want to retire yet, but want to lessen my
workload ○ ○ ○ ○
14a The workload is too much for me at my present time-
fraction ○ ○ ○ ○
15a I would have a better work-life balance ○ ○ ○ ○
16a Other (please specify below) ○ ○ ○ ○
Other reasons I would prefer to decrease my current time-fraction:
The following questions are shown to participants who responded ‘No, keep it the same’.
I prefer working at my present time-fraction because: Does not apply
1 2 3
Strongly applies 4 12b I can better meet the needs of my family ○ ○ ○ ○ 13b I don’t want to retire yet, but do not want the workload
of a higher time-fraction ○ ○ ○ ○
14b The workload would be too much for me at a higher
time-fraction ○ ○ ○ ○
15b I have a better work-life balance ○ ○ ○ ○
16b Other (please specify below) ○ ○ ○ ○
Other reasons I prefer working at my present time- fraction:
__________________________________________
The following questions are shown to participants who responded ‘Yes, increase it’.
I would prefer to increase my time-fraction but I have not as yet because: Does not apply 1 2 3 Strongly applies 4 12c The only position available was at this time-fraction ○ ○ ○ ○ 13c I work at this time-fraction so that I have additional time
to manage my workload ○ ○ ○ ○
14c The workload would be too much for me at a higher
time-fraction ○ ○ ○ ○
15c I have a better work-life balance ○ ○ ○ ○
16c Other (please specify below) ○ ○ ○ ○
Other reasons I would prefer to increase my time- fraction:
__________________________________________ For Teachers: Your Teaching Workload
The following questions are shown to all teachers.
17 Please indicate if, this term you:
A ○ Are a generalist primary teacher with responsibility for one class
B ○ Are a generalist primary teacher working mostly with one class but also running classes for other groups in a specific subject area during normal class time
C ○ Are a subject specialist working with classes across the primary year levels (K-6)
D ○ Are a subject specialist working with classes across the primary and secondary year levels (K-12) E ○ Are a secondary teacher (7-10)
F ○ Are a secondary teacher (7-12) G ○ Are a senior secondary teacher (11-12) H ○ Are working with ungraded students
I ○ Do not have a face-to-face teaching load this term
The following questions are shown if participant responded either A or B.
18 How many hours do you spend with your class in a week (timetabled class time)? Please round to the
nearest hour.
19 What year level is your class?
☐ K ☐ 3
☐ P ☐ 4
☐ 1 ☐ 5
☐ 2 ☐ 6
20 How many students are in your class? ______students
How many students in your class:
21a are on the Severe Disability Register (SDR)? ______students 21b have recognised Additional Needs? ______students 21c have an Individual Learning Plan (ILP)? ______students
The following question is shown if participant responded B.
22 How many hours do you spend teaching as a specialist in a week (timetabled class time)? Please round to
the nearest hour.
______hours per week
The following question is shown if participant responded C, D, E, F, G or H.
23 How many hours do you spend teaching in a week (timetabled class time)? Please round to the nearest
hour.
______hours per week
24 How many students are in your largest class? ______students
25 In which subject do you have your largest class?
○ The Arts (Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Visual Communication, Design) ○ English / literacy
○ Health and Physical Education
○ The Humanities (Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business, Geography, History) ○ Languages
○ Mathematics / numeracy ○ Science
○ Technologies (Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies)
○ Other (e.g. Integrated Studies, Environmental Education, Library, VET, VCAL, Special Needs)
26 How many of the students you teach each week have an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that requires you to address their learning needs accordingly?
The following questions are shown if participant responded B, C, D, E, F, G or H.
27 Which learning areas are you teaching this term?
Subject areas taught as part of a primary generalist class should not be
included here. Years K-6
Years 7-10
Years 11-12 The Arts (Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Visual
Communication, Design) ☐ ☐ ☐
English / literacy ☐ ☐ ☐
Health and Physical Education ☐ ☐ ☐
The Humanities (Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business,
Geography, History) ☐ ☐ ☐
Languages ☐ ☐ ☐
Mathematics / numeracy ☐ ☐ ☐
Science ☐ ☐ ☐
Technologies (Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies) ☐ ☐ ☐ Other (e.g. Integrated Studies, Environmental Education, Library, VET,
VCAL, Special Needs) ☐ ☐ ☐
(Note that only answers selected in Q27 will appear in Q28)
28 Are you teaching out-of-field in any of the subjects within these learning areas?
You are teaching in-field if you have completed at least one year of tertiary studies in the subject and have completed tertiary studies or professional development in methods of teaching in this subject area. If you do not fit into the above definition but have been teaching the subject for two years or more and feel comfortable and capable teaching
the subject to the year level(s) you are in, choose ‘in-field’. In-field
One subject out-of- field More than one subject out-of- field The Arts (Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts, Visual
Communication, Design) ☐ ☐ ☐
English / literacy ☐ ☐ ☐
Health and Physical Education ☐ ☐ ☒
The Humanities (Civics and Citizenship, Economics and Business,
Geography, History) ☐ ☐ ☐
Languages ☐ ☐ ☐
Mathematics / numeracy ☐ ☐ ☐
Science ☐ ☐ ☐
Technologies (Design and Technologies, Digital Technologies) ☐ ☐ ☐ Other (e.g. Integrated Studies, Environmental Education, Library, VET,
Additional duties
The following questions are shown to all teachers.
29 Do you undertake any organisational duties in addition to your classroom role?
Examples include managing a year level or learning area, managing a specialist function such as sport, student support, managing a school transition program, leading development of curriculum policies and programs, managing professional development, timetabling.
○ Yes ○ No
The following questions are shown if participant responded ‘Yes’.
30 How many hours per week are you released from face-to-face teaching to do these duties? Please round to
the nearest hour. If none, enter ‘0’.
______hours per week
31 On average, how many hours per week do you actually spend on these duties? Please round to the nearest
hour. If none, enter ‘0’.
______hours per week
32 Has the amount of allocated time for these duties changed in the time that you have been responsible for them? If you have been doing these duties for many years, please only consider the last five years. ○ No changes
○ More time has been allocated ○ Less time has been allocated
33 In the last week (from Monday to Sunday), in total how many hours did you spend on all job-related activities?
Your workload in a typical week
The following questions are shown to all teachers:
In a typical week this term, on average how much time have you spent on the following activities outside of class time?
Required hours are 35 hours per week of duty for full-time, or equivalent for part time.
Please round to the nearest half hour (0.5)
During required hours Weekday hours outside required hours Hours during the weekend
34 Planning and preparing (individually or collaboratively) – include time
searching for materials, photocopying class materials, etc. ____ ____ ____ 35 Developing and documenting lesson plans and/or units of work ____ ____ ____ 36 Marking and tasks related to assessment ____ ____ ____ 37 Preparing and giving feedback outside class time (including via email) ____ ____ ____ 38 Talking to students about curriculum content / classroom work (other
than as part of formal feedback) – include email correspondence or
other digital tools ____ ____ ____
39 Communicating with parents / guardians (including digital
communication) ____ ____ ____
40 Managing issues related to your teaching, e.g. chasing late
assignments ____ ____ ____
41 Yard duty and other supervisory roles ____ ____ ____ 42 Co- / extra-curricular activities (e.g. sports and clubs) ____ ____ ____ 43 Talking to students about issues outside of curriculum content /
classroom work (e.g. student welfare / wellbeing issues, student engagement and behaviour issues) – include all forms of digital communication
____ ____ ____ 44 Mentoring of other teachers, supervision of student teachers ____ ____ ____ 45 Work related to any specific additional duties you are responsible for,
including meetings and all forms of digital communication related to
these duties ____ ____ ____
46 All other meetings ____ ____ ____
47 All other administrative duties including record-keeping, reading and
You have indicated that your face-to-face teaching load is X hours per week.
If primary teacher:
Your total required hours for a week are 22 teaching hours and 13 other hours = 35 hours. If you work full-time, your total should be 35 hours.
If secondary or senior secondary teacher:
Your total required hours for a week are 20 teaching hours and 15 other hours = 35 hours. If you work full-time, your total should be 35 hours.
All teachers:
Your total weekday hours outside required hours, for a week, are: Y Your total during the weekends are: Z
Your total hours in a typical week are: X+Y+Z
There are periods of time over the course of a year when you undertake additional tasks. Please estimate the amount of hours you spent on these tasks over the last year.
Leave blank those tasks not relevant to you in the last year.
Do not include tasks that you have already included as part of your typical week. Estimated hours spent on tasks 48 Work associated with report writing and parent/teacher interviews ____
49 Work associated with examination periods ____
50 Camps ____
51 Supervising student teachers ____
52 Concerts or drama productions ____
53 NAPLAN ____
54 Parent information sessions ____
55 Sporting events ____
56 Performance and Development process ____
57 Analysing student data ____
58 Other (please indicate nature of duty below) ____ Please indicate the nature of the other duties for which you have estimated hours:
___________________________________________________________________ Perceptions of workload – teachers
How often would you say the following statements apply to you? Never or
seldom Sometimes Often
Nearly always or always
59 My workload is manageable ○ ○ ○ ○
60 I have a good balance between home and work ○ ○ ○ ○ 61 My workload at school has a negative effect on the
quality of my teaching ○ ○ ○ ○
62 I think about leaving the teaching profession ○ ○ ○ ○
63 I look forward to the school day ○ ○ ○ ○
64 My workload leaves me little time to provide necessary
additional support for my colleagues ○ ○ ○ ○
65 My workload adversely affects my health ○ ○ ○ ○ 66 I have enough time to ensure that the vast majority of
67 I am expected to deliver too much curriculum content ○ ○ ○ ○ 68 The Performance and Development process / review
takes up a lot of time ○ ○ ○ ○
69 The Performance and Development process / review
improves the way I teach in the classroom ○ ○ ○ ○ Managing workload effectively
Please indicate the extent to which you think the following suggestions would make your workload more manageable and enable you to focus more on providing quality opportunities for your students to learn.
Not at all 1 2 3 4 To a great extent 5 70 Increase and/or protect non-contact time for planning,
marking and classroom observation ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
71 Fewer face-to-face teaching hours per week ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 72 Greater clarity about teaching roles and responsibilities ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
73 Smaller class sizes ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
74 More teachers ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
75 More teaching assistants ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
76 Reduce bureaucracy (e.g. extent of monitoring, testing,
recording, reporting and accountability practices) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 77 Reduce the number of government initiatives (e.g.
changing requirements in areas such as curriculum,
assessment and reporting) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
78 Policies reducing and managing all forms of digital
communication ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
79 Better use of ICT to improve access to, and prevent
replication of, data ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
80 More education professionals’ support (e.g. School
Psychologists, Social Worker) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
81 More leadership support (e.g. with student re-
engagement and behaviour management) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ About your teaching
Thinking about your teaching this year, to what extent have you been able to:
Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 To a great exte nt 7
82 teach as well as you can ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
83 know your students as well as you need to ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 84 meet your students’ individual learning needs ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 85 plan effectively to meet your students’ individual
learning needs ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
86 meet the needs of students who are less engaged ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 87 meet the needs of students who are struggling with
their learning ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
88 meet the needs of highly engaged students ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 89 set challenging and worthwhile learning goals for
your students ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
90 implement suitable and engaging learning activities
to meet learning goals ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
learning resources
92 monitor and assess student progress effectively ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 93 manage student behaviour effectively ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 94 share and analyse with colleagues: teaching
resources, teaching activities, pedagogy, student
work ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
95 keep up with professional reading and research in
your field of teaching ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
96 provide timely and useful feedback to your students
about their learning ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
97 reflect on and evaluate the quality of your teaching ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 98 develop your professional expertise as a teacher ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ If you were given additional time for teaching-related tasks, what would be your priorities for using that time?
Choose up to five areas.
99 Getting to know your students’ individual learning needs better ☐ 100 Meeting the needs of students who are struggling with their learning ☐ 101 Meeting the needs of students who are less engaged ☐ 102 Meeting the needs of highly engaged students ☐ 103 Planning effectively to meet your students’ individual learning needs ☐ 104 Setting challenging and worthwhile learning goals for your students ☐ 105 Implementing suitable and engaging learning activities to meet learning goals ☐ 106 Selecting appropriate and interesting teaching and learning resources ☐ 107 Monitoring and assessing student progress more effectively ☐ 108 Managing student behaviour more effectively ☐ 109 Sharing and analysing students’ work with colleagues ☐ 110 Keeping up with professional reading and research in your field of teaching ☐ 111 Providing timely and useful feedback to your students about their learning ☐ 112 Reflecting on and evaluating the quality of your teaching ☐ 113 Developing your professional expertise as a teacher ☐ 114 Communicating with parents to support student learning ☐ To what extent do the following statements apply in your
situation? Not at all 1 2 3 4 To a great extent 5 115 I decide how I am going to teach the curriculum ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 116 I have a fair degree of control over my choice of
professional development activity ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
117 I’m trusted to plan my units of work in the way I
think is best for my students ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
118 I choose the methods I will use to assess my
students’ learning ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
119 I’m encouraged to innovate, take a few risks and
experiment with my teaching ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
120 I have the support that I need to constantly
improve my teaching practice ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
assess our students’ learning needs and progress 122 Teachers at this school share ideas about how to
teach a concept or skill ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
123 I have sufficient opportunities to participate in
effective professional development ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
124 I participate in observations of my colleagues’
classrooms ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
125 Our school has clear educational goals and vision ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 126 I feel I can make a difference at this school ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 127 Teachers in this school believe that they can engage
all students ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
128 We have a common approach to support our
students ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
129 We solve problems, we don’t just talk about them ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 130 I get a lot of satisfaction from my current teaching ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Your future in teaching
131 Which of the following statements applies to you? A ○ I do not intend to leave teaching before retirement B ○ I sometimes think about leaving teaching
C ○ I often think about leaving teaching D ○ I have decided to leave teaching
The following questions are shown if participant responded B, C or D.
To what extent do the following factors affect your thinking
about leaving, or decision to leave teaching? Not at all 1 2 3 4 To a great extent 5 132 Short contracts and lack of ongoing, permanent
positions ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
133 I never intended teaching to be a long term career ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 134 I do not enjoy, or no longer enjoy teaching ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
135 Class sizes too large ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
136 Having to deal with student management ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 137 The non-teaching workload – administration ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 138 The non-teaching workload – other duties and
demands on my time ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
139 Excessive requirements for monitoring, assessment,
recording, reporting and accountability ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 140 Insufficient non face-to-face teaching time ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 141 Stress and concerns about my health as a result of
the job ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
142 New or changing school and system initiatives – too many, too time consuming, lack of coordination,
constant change ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
143 Few opportunities to increase my salary
significantly ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
144 Quality of school leadership / management ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
146 Insufficient recognition or reward for teachers ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
147 Poor work / life balance ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
148 Salary does not adequately reflect the complexity
of the role and responsibility ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
149 Other (please specify below) ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ What other reasons do you have for thinking about
leaving?
________________________________________ For Principals
The following question is shown to all principals and assistant principals.
150 What is your employment classification? A ○ Assistant Principal
B ○ Principal C ○ Network Leader
D ○ Principal Project / Curriculum Officer
The following question is shown to all principals.